Category Archives: Writing

Here it is four days into 2011 already and I am just getting around to blogging once more – or maybe more than once. We’ve had a quiet New Year so far. The other retirees here are up into their 80’s, or more, so we just watched the “ball drop” in our own apartment.

We had a great Christmas. Our grandsons – ages nine and eleven – came on Christmas day and we took them out for sandwiches that evening. (Have you ever tried to find fast food on Christmas night.) We started out looking for a Taco Bell and ended up at Jack in the Box. The boys ate like it was their last meal.

They stayed over and went to church with us, then we all ate brunch and we taught them to play pool. They thought it was funny that they came to the “old folks’ home” and Gran’ma and Poppa taught them.

We have just been lying low since New Year and are now contemplating taking down the Christmas decorations – one day soon, I suppose – so it will look like our apartment again and the housekeeper will be able to get around inside and do her job.

As you can see, we are really enjoying the retired life. I haven’t had any editing jobs – yet – but have done some more writing. They are “published” online at www.BookRix.com/-tilden.editing. Come on over and read my books and some of my peers, as well. Make some comments and I will try to answer them all.

Yes, it’s true. Lately I’ve been doing more writing than previously. I have found two new outlets in the past few months. One, HubPages, I have been posting to for a number of months. Then, recently, I found a new site, BookRix; read free books online. This has given me an opportunity to post longer items – books and plays – which have never been accepted for publication, unfinished works, and even previously published books. I invite and encourage you to come to either one and read what I’ve written.

However, that does not mean I’ve given up on the editing and proofreading. In fact, I am seeing that the more I “practice” my writing the more I am beginning to notice errors and poor formatting. My writing is honing my proofreading and editing skills. After many years, that is a good thing. Continue to keep me and my services in mind for your editing needs; and don’t forget to recommend me to your friends in the writing business.

Personally, now, we are – or maybe aren’t – planning a trip the end of this month to visit family and friends for the “post-Thanksgiving” holidays. My sister and my brother are both in San Bernardino County (California) and we haven’t seen either of them in over 4 years, so the trip is Definitely due!

Retirement is both too much and too little the way I’d hoped and imagined. We can come and go as we’d like, but we don’t. We can go and join community activities, but we often forget when they are, or we just “sleep” right through them. We don’t have to cook or clean house, but sometimes the food isn’t something we would normally choose, and we always have to straighten up before the housekeeper comes on Thursdays.

If we had a little more income we could do a little more. If we didn’t have three separate checks coming in at two different times of the month we’d be more successful at getting all our bills paid correctly. (For 21 years we had two check coming in within days of each other. It was always easy to set up and pay everything at the beginning of the month.)

So … now everything is different. Sometimes we even regret having moved OR retired. And, of course, sometimes we can’t imagine trying to get by if we hadn’t. I guess the most important thing is to keep our priorities straight.

I spent over two hours Saturday typing from my original MS to create the first typescript – complete with editing notes. I did the latter for the sake of the practice, so I will have this experience for your document.

Hopefully this, and other things I’ve found online, will help me get some jobs and perhaps to have a chance to have my writing published. A friend referred me to a listing on Craig’s List looking for editors/ writers (tele-commute). I also found a Web Page for writers who are prospecting to be published. Perhaps my name will soon be connected with both editing/ proofreading and writing; stories, plays, poetry, even non-fiction. I’ll keep you informed.

I was assured that I would have plenty of time after retirement to write and get other things done that I just couldn’t find or make the time to get done before retirement. So now I’m getting eMail from friends who want to know if I’m still writing, and my wife asks when I’m going to get back to my writing and get out that promised “Great American Novel”.

"Great American Novels"

Then the next thing we do is shop, go to Kaiser or buy gas, and get lost in Roseville trying to get from one of the above to any of the others. Apparently the roads in Roseville are laid out diagonally.

Somehow I’m going to have to set myself a couple of hours each day just to work on my writing, Bible study, and men’s group work.

I’d rather just sleep late, do crossword puzzles and wonder where the time has gone. I need something to give me a “kick in the pants” to get things done. (Heck! I need help getting things started at this point.)

Tomorrow I have plans to do my first “typescript” of my writing toward first edit and proofreading. This will give me the opportunity to fill in some details, and get the back story written. I have it in my head, and my characters are trying to let me know what comes next in the narrative. I’m anxious to find out.

I’ve always started a story with a single sentence and then gone on from there. Some of this has gotten edited out in later versions, but it gives me a “frame” to hang the rest of the story from.

You may do this totally differently – even make an outline first – but “whatever works for you” is the way to keep doing it. If you have a “proven” method of getting from the beginning to the end of your story I have little advice to give.

If you’ve really never been able to put your ideas down on paper in some order with a beginning, middle, and an end then you may want to find a good website – like Tilden Editing Services profile on LinkedIn or Home Page to give you some advice.

A Word to You:

While I don't claim to be any wiser than the next guy, I do want to write blogs which will make you think. Therefore, I try to put a lot of thought into each one and give you room to ponder and ruminate on the topic(s) I write.
As you read, I invite you to comment on what I have written about. My word is NEVER the final word on anything - regardless of what I'd like to think - and I'm always willing to hear comment and feedback.
With all that having been said; Let's read, let's write.
Blessings,
>Wayne